Did you know that over 30.7 million e-commerce websites compete for attention worldwide? However, research suggests that 90% of e-commerce businesses can’t make it beyond four months of launch.

Most online stores struggle, not because they lack good products, but because they chose the wrong platform. Selecting the ideal e-commerce platform isn’t just a technical task; it defines how easily you’ll manage your business, impacts your costs, and shapes your brand’s potential.

WordPress with WooCommerce, Shopify, and fully custom-built solutions have unique strengths and pitfalls. But in this battle of WordPress vs Shopify vs Custom Web Solution, the right solution is the one that meets your business’s unique requirements.

By clearly understanding your priorities, be it ease, customization, or growth, you can confidently pick the platform to set your business up for success. Keep reading as we compare all three options and help you decide which platform aligns best with your business.

WordPress vs Shopify vs Custom Web Solution: How to decide on a platform

Choosing an e-commerce platform can be overwhelming, especially if you come from a non-technical background. With countless options, from DIY website builders to fully custom sites, the decision-making process can leave your head spinning in confusion.

Yes, you do need a good product to stand out in such a huge e-commerce market, but you also need a platform that can exhibit the potential of your product. That is why picking between WordPress (with WooCommerce), Shopify, or a custom-built solution isn’t just a technical decision; it impacts your growing ability, day-to-day ease of use, and budget.

The good news is that many entrepreneurs have faced this process and made a choice. How do they come to a decision? Based on how the platform addresses their needs and pain points, such as:

• Ease of setup
• Operational efficiency
• Maintenance needs
• Security
• Hidden costs and fees
• Customization scope

You can also start with one platform and later migrate to another as your needs change. In fact, migrating is a natural part of e-commerce growth due to cost considerations, the need for more functionalities, tackling performance and scalability issues, etc. One report found that 61% of B2B online sellers (and about 18% of retail e-commerce businesses) often look to migrate to a new platform within a year.

As you read further, you’ll understand which platform suits your needs and most addresses your pain points. What worked for someone else may not be right for you. Sometimes, the right choice becomes clearer when you focus on your priorities (e.g., ease of use vs. need for customization).

WordPress and WooCommerce: Plug & Play Strategy

WordPress is an open-source content management system (CMS) launched in 2003, originally focused on blogging. Over the past two decades, it has grown into the world’s most popular website platform, powering about 62% of CMS-based websites. Its e-commerce capability comes primarily from WooCommerce, a plugin introduced in 2011 that transforms WordPress into a fully functional online store. So, is WordPress good for your e-commerce needs?

Given the flexibility and huge ecosystem of themes and plugins, WordPress can allow businesses to customize nearly every aspect of their site. It gives its merchants full access to the code and can modify or extend their site’s functionality without platform-imposed limits.

With WordPress, you can start with inexpensive hosting and free plugins, then scale up features as needed. Its CMS capabilities can support the implementation of solid content marketing strategies with great tools for optimizing content and products for search engines.

When to use WordPress/WooCommerce

WordPress is an ideal solution if you’re organically growing an audience using social media channels, such as Instagram/TikTok, and need to organize orders and products with minimal upfront investment. In that case, WooCommerce will feel like almost no investment at all. Plus, stores can easily build on their content by running a robust blog or resource section.

Root Science, a skincare brand based in San Francisco, is a good example of WordPress’s capability to support content-rich brands and scale their business.

Starting as a small passion project, Root Science grew with WooCommerce by publishing educational content about their ingredients and story while smoothly handling e-commerce operations. In 2019, their website successfully managed the surge of traffic after a viral mention by Kourtney Kardashian without crashing, proving WordPress’ scalability.

What to consider

Users often praise the freedom and customization WordPress and WooCommerce offer to the e-commerce sector. They like the countless options of themes and plug-ins available to add features. Additionally, the upfront cost to start a WooCommerce store is quite low.

• The software itself is free and open-source.
• Your main mandatory expenses are a domain name (typically around $10 to $35 per year), hosting ($2.50 to $13 for entry-level plans), themes/plugins (optional buying), and developer costs.

A small e-commerce operation can often run on a few hundred dollars per year or less in platform costs, significantly undercutting the recurring fees of hosted platforms such as Shopify.

However, hosting needs (and costs) may increase as the store grows. Plus, while WooCommerce itself doesn’t take a cut of your revenue, payment processors (like Stripe or PayPal) will take their percentage per sale. Many businesses also invest in a one-time cost for a premium theme to get a polished design and possibly a few paid plugins or extensions.

Another thing is using WordPress for e-commerce comes at the cost of developer knowledge. Users often cite a steep learning curve for beginners. Keeping the site updated and compatible (especially as WordPress and plugin updates can sometimes conflict) is an ongoing effort.

Lastly, WordPress might not be the best option for a large-scale e-commerce store with various unique functionalities to create a memorable brand. WordPress performs best with lean code, and all good developers will recommend that stores limit themselves to a few functionalities. Too many plug-ins, add-ons, and functionalities often add to the code and cause bloat.

Non-technical users might struggle with all these duties as there’s no official 24/7 support team to call, only community forums or third-party consultants. To fully leverage WordPress at its full potential, get assistance from seasoned developers, such as those at Anglara who offer professional custom WordPress development services, to help set up and maintain your store, including:

• Hosting
• Installing WordPress and WooCommerce to set up your store
• Customize its design
• Integrate shipping and online payment systems
• Regular maintenance tasks like updates, backups, and security

Shopify: Get your store up and running with a few clicks

Shopify, launched in 2006, quickly became popular for its ease of use and ready-made features. Many successful brands rely on Shopify to power their online stores. For instance, BoAt Lifestyle, an electronics brand from India, started using Shopify in 2016. It quickly launched and grew its online presence, hitting around Rs 4,000 crore ($500 million) in revenue by FY2023. The company is preparing for an IPO, aiming for a valuation of over $1.5 billion.

In contrast to WordPress, which started as a general website tool, Shopify is a hosted e-commerce platform (Software-as-a-Service) built specifically to help merchants create online stores easily without needing to code. Over the last 19 years, it has exploded in popularity, becoming one of the top choices for entrepreneurs worldwide.

Shopify now powers millions of merchants across 175+ countries and has grown into a commerce ecosystem with an app store, payment gateway, POS system, etc. The company behind Shopify is a publicly traded tech firm, and the platform’s reliability and continual improvement reflect a decade-plus of focused development in commerce.

Some other well-known examples of brands that grew using Shopify include Gymshark, Kylie Cosmetics, and Allbirds. They all chose Shopify to handle high traffic and rapid growth reliably.

When to use Shopify

Shopify is perfect if you’re ready to pay a recurring fee to focus on your business rather than tech headaches. You can launch quickly and professionally without worrying about technical tasks like hosting, SSL certificates, or software updates; Shopify handles everything.

Dropshipping entrepreneurs often choose Shopify due to its seamless integration with platforms like Oberlo and AliExpress and its ability to handle high-volume paid advertising traffic.

Shopify is when you have money and products for rapid testing and want to boost your sales quickly using paid ads on platforms like Meta (formerly Facebook) and Google (for ads aim at least $1000/month). Shopify manages sudden spikes in visitors effortlessly, ensuring your store stays fast and customers have a smooth shopping experience.

Shopify also excels when selling internationally or through multiple channels. While WordPress relies heavily on plugins for multilingual support, Shopify simplifies managing multiple languages and currencies. Additionally, its built-in point-of-sale (POS) system allows seamless physical and online retail integration, which is ideal for brands running both.

What to consider

With Shopify, the ease of setting up and getting a store running comes at a significant cost. First, Shopify is a closed platform, meaning you can’t access the server-side code and are somewhat constrained to do things “the Shopify way.” While thousands of apps in the Shopify App Store extend functionality, if you have a unique requirement that no app covers, you might hit a wall.

Next, the incurring cost – Shopify charges a monthly fee starting at $29/month, and the higher tiers for more staff accounts, advanced features like professional reports, better shipping discounts, etc., come at a higher cost. There are also extra transaction fees if you don’t use their payment gateway, which can incur quickly over time. Additionally, some features for additional functionalities might charge more, which further increases the ongoing cost.

Lastly, consider data portability if you’re considering using Shopify temporarily. Shopify is proprietary, so moving away from it requires migrating your data out and rebuilding it on another system, which can be a project in itself.

Shopify is a good choice if you’re investing in paid marketing, aiming for rapid growth, or scaling to international markets quickly. However, given the potential limitations of deep customization, it might not be the best (or cost-efficient) solution to brand a unique identity. It’ll even make it difficult to switch the platforms later on.

Custom Web Solution: A unique brand experience

A custom web solution means building an e-commerce website from scratch. It uses a more developer-oriented e-commerce framework, such as Magento/Adobe Commerce, OpenCart, PrestaShop, or a combination of front-end and back-end frameworks. While platforms aren’t ready-to-use or simple plug-and-play solutions like WooCommerce or Shopify, they offer complete flexibility to create exactly what your business may need.

Historically, custom solutions were the only option in the early days of e-commerce – in the late 1990s and 2000s, many businesses built their online stores with in-house developers or agencies, resulting in unique codebases for each store. Today, custom solutions are typically chosen by organizations with specific requirements or at a scale where off-the-shelf platforms fall short.

Custom solutions give unlimited flexibility and control, and this control is vital for companies that view their website as a competitive differentiator (not just a sales channel). You decide every feature and how it works, with virtually no design, workflow, integrations, or scalability limitations – except the limits of your development resources.

Want a completely novel shopping flow?

You can build it.

Need a special algorithm to recommend products?

You can code it in.

Custom solutions mean you own your platform; you’re not dependent on a third-party vendor’s roadmap or uptime.

When to use a Custom Web Solution

A fully custom e-commerce site is essentially a blank canvas. You and your development team have complete freedom to design the shopping experience and backend systems exactly as desired. This route is often pursued by large enterprises, complex B2B businesses, or highly innovative start-ups that need something that no standard platform offers.

Take the example of a jewelry wholesaler like Rananjay Exports, which has unique business rules like minimum order quantities, variable pricing tiers, and complex product variations like size and carat.

These features become challenging or even impossible to implement effectively on platforms like WooCommerce or Shopify. Going custom, they can program these business rules into their site.

Another scenario is when a company wants to integrate deeply with other enterprise software, such as ERP systems, custom CRMs, inventory management unique to their workflow, etc. A custom solution can interface seamlessly with their existing IT infrastructure. It supports your website to play a critical role in your long-term brand-building strategy.

For example, Magento (now Adobe Commerce) is one of the most popular custom web frameworks for e-commerce. It is typically self-hosted and highly customizable by developers, as the code can be modified freely and is a popular choice for large catalogs and complex requirements because it offers enterprise features. ASUS, the computer and electronics manufacturer, launched a unified B2C/B2B e-commerce platform with Adobe Commerce (Magento) specifically for its flexibility and high level of customization. This allowed ASUS to build a unified experience for both consumers and resellers on one site, something that a one-size-fits-all platform might not have handled easily.

A custom solution enables businesses to offer a unique brand experience beyond the standard templates and themes everyone else uses. This is common in high-end or design-centric brands that want pixel-perfect control over every page.

Lastly, another major reason companies choose custom platforms is scalability. A well-built custom platform can be scaled horizontally to handle huge traffic and orders (though it requires skilled engineering). Multi-tenant platform limitations do not constrain you; if you need a powerful server cluster, you set it up.

For example, Amazon and eBay run on fully custom-built systems, which allow them to optimize for their massive scale and innovate rapidly with new features. Walmart rebuilt its entire web front end using technologies like React and Next.js to handle enormous traffic volumes efficiently, reducing load times and improving customer experience.

What to consider

Custom solutions are best for organizations that have a long-term vision, sufficient budget, and truly unique needs that can’t be met neatly by Shopify, WooCommerce, or other mainstream tools. This solution also supports mid-to-large enterprises or start-ups that want to do things existing platforms actively prevent or don’t support; however, they need strong investor backing.

The cost of custom development in terms of time and money is the main consideration for businesses. Building a quality e-commerce website from scratch is a large project. Estimates vary, but a simple custom e-commerce site could easily take 200+ development hours to build, and an enterprise-level site can run into thousands of hours when you include planning, development, testing, and deployment.

Unlike Shopify, which includes built-in support and security, a custom solution demands a dedicated technical team to keep everything running smoothly. Depending on the complexity, developing an enterprise-grade e-commerce site can cost anywhere from $6,000 to $95,000+. The real cost of website development accounts for ongoing maintenance, security management, hosting expenses, and continuous feature updates.

Conclusion

Choosing the right platform—WordPress, Shopify, or a Custom Web Solution—depends entirely on your business needs. Here’s a quick summary:

Platform	Best for	Pros	Cons
WordPress	Small-to-medium stores, content-rich brands, budget-conscious businesses	Cost-effective, flexible, strong content marketing tools	Excessive plugins can reduce website speed and increase maintenance costs as a side effect, Not suitable for enterprise
Shopify	Businesses looking for rapid scaling and testing, international selling, and dropshipping	Easy setup, scalable, reliable, strong customer support	Migrating from Shopify to other platforms can be challenging, most Shopify Apps are paid, and require a dedicated developer to handle the technical aspect
Custom Solution	Large enterprises, B2B wholesalers, and businesses with unique workflows	Fully customizable, unlimited scalability, deep integrations	High upfront investment, requires a dedicated technical team

Still unsure what suits your needs best? At Anglara, we understand there’s no one-size-fits-all solution; it truly depends on your project’s scope. With 7+ years of experience, we’ve helped entrepreneurs successfully build and launch e-commerce websites using WordPress, Shopify, and custom-built solutions.

Regardless of your choice, Anglara ensures your website always works for you. Let our team simplify the complexity. Book a free consultation today, and we’ll guide you to the best solution tailored specifically to your business. You can also fill out the form given below.